Plucking instrument



(No Model.)

J. JOPPRIAUD. PLUGKING INSTRUMENT.

No. 585,958. Patented July 5, 1897.

WITNESSES Q Q W'W QMW.

INVENTDH M UNITED STATES PATENT GEETCE.

JOSEPH JOFFRIAUD, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

PLUCKING INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 585,958, dated July 6, 1897'.

- Application filed October 19, 1896. Serial No. 609,347. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosnPH J OFFR-IAUD, of the city and county of San Francisco, in the State of California, have invented a new and useful Instrument for Plucking Fowls, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an implement or tool for the special use of poulterers and other persons having to strip the feathers from poultry or fowls, either domestio or wild.

Plucking of fowls is naturally tedious and wearisome, both for the housekeeper who may choose to do it herself and the craftsman whose daily task is to dress fowls for the market, and where a good deal of such work has to be done it consumes so much time that it is likely to be slighted over. Besides the person performing it is subject to suffer more or less from sore fingers, owing to the haste with which the feathers are usually twitched off and to cuts produced by fractured bones of birds that have been shot. There are cases too where the work is exceedingly slow in spite of all efforts, as in the case of young feathers, which stick to the fingers like paste and prevent any rapid progress being made, the same trouble occurring also where down is met, especially on the breast of water-fowls. Even under the most favorable conditions the plucking is not accomplished as rapidly as it might be, since but a limited quantity of feathers can be taken in the hand at a time, for otherwise they would be too hard to pull. Bearing these things in mind I have endeavored to devise an instrument to do the plucking with which would do away with the annoyance, fatigue, and pain connected with hand-pluckin g as it is ordinarily carried on, as also perform the work more quickly and thoroughly without the use of a knife and regardless of the nature of the feathers or down to be pulled off. The result of my endeavors has been an instrument which, though directed by the hand,dispensos with the necessity of pinchingwith the fingers the plumage of the fowl to be plucked and takes such better hold of the plumage that it can be stripped swiftly and almost without effort, leaving nothing behind which cannot be either picked or rubbed off by the instrumentitself. Such is the plucking instrument described hereinafter, and the preferred form of which isillustrated in the drawings hereto annexed.

Referring to the said drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a large-sized plucking instrument made according to the principle of my invention, the same being shown as fully opened. Fig. 2 is a central cross-section of asimilarinstrument of less size closed. Fig. 3 is adetailed view of a hinge with which the instrument is provided, and Fig. 4 is a side view of an instrument of same size as is shown at Fig. 1.

In the figures the letters A A represent two shell-like or conoavo-convex mating pieces joined one to the other at one edge by means of ahinge B. These two pieces form together a pair of coacting jaws adapted to grab as much as a handful of feathers at once upon closing, but at the same time having broad, flat, and smooth edges, which, though stiff enough to firmly hold the feathers till they are pulled off, will release them quickly upon being drawn or forced apart.

In size the pieces or jaws A A may vary to some extent, the idea being to make a plucking instrument that will comfortably fill the hand of the user; but whatever may be their size they are preferably made oblong with ends drawn to a point, as shown, so that the feathers or the down may be grasped in quantities to suit and the fowl well stripped throughout, even in the less accessible parts. Steel jaws are considered the best for general plucking, although they may be made of other metals or different materials as well.

The jaws aforesaid are kept normally openthat is, in position for grasping-by means of one or more springs, as O 0, arranged to bear upon their inner surfaces. 7 Such springs are conveniently connected with the pin 12 of the hinge B through the medium of a socketpieoe o, placed between the leaves of the hinge, as at b, and through which the hingepin is passed. They are of sufficient strength always to throw the jaws of the instrument open and yet they are not made too strong, so that the jaws may be closed by a slight pressure of the hand. They may vary somewhat in form, but they are preferably given the shape represented in the drawings, which shape allows them to bend upon a curve throughout.

Their free ends are bent inwardly, as shown, so as to better slide on the inner concave surfaces of the pieces A A While the latter are being opened and closed.

The outer surfaces of the pieces A A are out like a file or else corrugated or indented, as at a, in order to afford a rough part with which one may scrape off and remove small or broken feathers and down that may still be sticking to the fowl after the larger feathers have been plucked. By preference one side of the instrument is made coarser than the other, so that the cleaning by abrasion may be regulated according to the tenderness of skin of the fowl operated upon.

It will be readilyimagined thatif the pluckin g instrument above described be held properly in the palm of the hand it can be operated so as to take hold of the feathers of a fowl by merely closing the jaws on them, and that the feathers thus caught will be easily pulled off if sufficient pressure is maintained. The feathers having been twitched off and the pressure on the instrument afterward relaxed, the inside springs will force the jaws open and the feathers will drop out. A few strokes and pulls will be enough to strip a fowl of all its feathers. The broad side of the jaws is used in going over the back, sides,

and breast, but around the wings, legs, and such parts the elongated ends are brought into play; and, as previously stated, whatever may be sticking to the skin is scraped off by using either of the roughened outer surfaces of the instrument. A fowl can thus be cleaned quickly and thoroughly and the work will be done more rapidly, with less fatigue, and will be cleaner than it could be done in the old way.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

A pluckinginstrument comprising coacting jaws suitably joined together by a hinge, a spring for opening said jaws, and means for connecting said spring with said hinge, the jaws being pointed at their ends and provided with broad flat edges extending from one end of the hinge to the other,'substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J. JOFFRIAUD. [L.

WVitnesses:

HENRY P. TRICOU, A. H. STE. .MARIE. 

